Spice Up Your Life

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance primarily used for flavouring, colouring or preserving food.^{[citation needed]} Sometimes a spice is used to hide other flavours.

Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are parts of leafy green plants also used for flavouring or as garnish.

Many spices have antimicrobial properties. This may explain why spices are more commonly used in

warmer climates, which have more infectious disease, and why use of spices is especially prominent in meat, which is particularly susceptible to spoiling.

A spice may have an extra use, usually medicinal, religious ritual, cosmetics or perfume production, or as a vegetable. For example, turmeric roots are consumed as a vegetable and garlicas an antibiotic.

Botanical basis

• Dried fruits or seeds, such as fennel, mustard, and black pepper.
• Arils, such as mace.
• Barks, such as cinnamon and cassia.
• Dried flower buds, such as cloves.
• Stigmas, such as saffron.
• Roots and rhizomes, such as turmeric, ginger and galingale.
• Resins, such as asafoetida.

Healthy Spices

Horseradish Root

• Makes a powerfully hot sauce as a traditional accompaniment to roast beef or add to natural yogurt and serve with smoked fish.
• Acts as a mild diuretic (increasing urine flow). Believed to help relieve gout, arthritis, urinary and respiratory infections.

Caraway Seeds

• An ingredient in curry powders, as well as a flavoring in cakes, breads and biscuits.
• Chewing caraway seeds can relieve indigestion and menstrual cramps.

Turmeric

• Adds color to curry powders and a subtle flavor to rice pilafs.
• Believed to be good for digestive upsets and liver disorders. Research indicates it may help suppress cancer.

Cinnamon

• Used as a flavoring in baking, desserts and certain chicken and ham dishes.
• Helps relieve stomach upsets, colds and flu. Try adding a pinch to a honey and lemon drink to sooth a sore throat.

Cloves

• Used in the Indian cooking spice mixture garam masala and also added as a flavoring to fruit pies and punches.
• For toothache, apply clove oil to the affected area, or clamp to a whole clove between your teeth.

Pepper

• Black or white pepper adds zest to most savoury dishes and tastes remarkably good with strawberries and other fruit too.
• Traditionally used to stimulate the digestive juices and relieve bronchial congestion.

Ginger As A Remedy And A Spice

Consumed regularly, ginger helps warm the body, promote good digestion and keep the blood clot free. In Chinese medi­cine it is the fifth most frequently used remedy and is credited with ‘unlocking channels and waking up tired organs’. It sounds far fetched, but experiments confirm that substances in ginger help expand the blood vessels, thus improving circulation. All types of ginger are believed to be beneficial, including the fresh root, preserved or crystallized ginger, and the powdered spice.
Herbalists often recommend ginger in the ‘shivery’ stages of infection to promote a fever and hasten healing. If you feel a cold coming on, try drinking a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger, with honey, in hot water. Ginger can also help relieve rheumatic aches and pains. In one study, 25 g of ginger a day significantly helped some sufferers. Ginger is also famed for its unique effect on the digestion. The active ingredients, gingerols, calm the stomach, and ginger is a proven remedy for nausea. Chewing a piece of ginger root or crystal­lized ginger can ease motion sickness. Ginger can reduce pregnancy sickness, and can safely be eaten throughout pregnancy.

Nutmeg Alert!
Whilst most spices can be good for you, nutmeg can actually be dangerous in high amounts. It contains a hallucinogen called myristicin and whilst a small grating is not harmful, as little as two whole nutmegs could cause death. You have been warned!

Some flavor elements in spices are soluble in water; many are soluble in oil or fat. As a general rule, the flavors from a spice take time to infuse into the food so spices are added early in preparation